The eusuchian crocodylomorph<i>Allodaposuchus subjuniperus</i>sp. nov., a new species from the latest Cretaceous (upper Maastrichtian) of Spain

The vertebrate-bearing beds of the Laño quarry (Condado de Treviño) are among the most relevant sites from the Late Cretaceous of Europe. Geologically, Laño and the adjacent region are set on the southern limb of the South-Cantabrian Synclinorium (SE Basque-Cantabrian Region, northern Iberian Peninsula). The Laño sites were discovered in 1984; thousands of bones and teeth, including microfossils, have been collected during the prospection in the field and excavation campaigns. The vertebrate remains occur at two different stratigraphic horizons within a continental to shallow marine succession of Late Campanian-Maastrichtian age. The lower horizon contains the Laño 1 and Laño 2 sites, whereas the upper horizon contains the Albaina site. In the Laño sites, three fossiliferous beds (called L1A, L1B and L2) are known within an alluvial system composed mainly of fluvial sands and silts. The sedimentary structures are consistent with channel areas within an extensive braided river system. Based mainly on stratigraphic correlations, the fluvial beds of Laño are regarded as Late Campanian to Early Maastrichtian in age. These deposits have yielded a very diverse vertebrate assemblage, which consists of nearly 40 species, including actinopterygians, lissamphibians, lepidosaurs, turtles, crocodyliforms, dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and mammals. Seven genera and ten species have been erected to date in Laño. With reference to the marine vertebrate association of Albaina, it consists of at least 37 species, including sharks and rays, actinopterygians, mosasaurids, and plesiosaurs. Two genera and species of rhinobatoids (family indet.) and two new species of rhinobatids have been erected in Albaina. The fossil association indicates a Late (but not latest) Maastrichtian age. Recently, isolated turtle and dinosaur fossils have been discovered in the sublittoral beds of Albaina. The Laño quarry is one of the most noteworthy Campanian-Maastrichtian vertebrate localities of Europe by its taxonomic diversity, and provides useful information about the composition and affinities of both continental and marine vertebrate faunas from the latest Cretaceous of southwestern Europe.

Section: Sauropodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late cretaceous continental and marine vertebrate assemblages from the Laño quarry (Basque-Cantabrian Region, Iberian Peninsula): an update

Suberbiola

Corral²,

Astibia

et al. 2015

“…Nevertheless, in recent years the situation has changed, with the description of new taxa in the Lower Cretaceous (Buscalioni et al, 2013) and Upper Cretaceous (Puértolas et al, 2011;Puértolas-Pascual et al, 2014) providing significant phylogenetic and palaeobiogeographical results. The Lower Cretaceous is a geological range of great importance in reconstructing the radiation of advanced neosuchians and the origin of Eusuchia (Buscalioni et al, 2003;Salisbury et al, 2006;Martin and Delfino, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New material from a huge specimen of "Anteophthalmosuchus" cf. "escuchae" (Goniopholididae) from the Albian of Andorra (Teruel, Spain): Phylogenetic implications

Puértolas-Pascual¹,

Canudo²,

Sender³

2015

Self Cite

In 2011 the partial skeleton of a goniopholidid crocodylomorph was recovered in the ENDESA coal mine Mina Corta Barrabasa (Escucha Formation, lower Albian), located in the municipality of Andorra (Teruel, Spain). This new goniopholidid material is represented by abundant postcranial and fragmentary cranial bones. The study of these remains coincides with a recent description in 2013 of at least two new species of goniopholidids in the palaeontological site of Mina Santa María in Ariño (Teruel), also in the Escucha Formation. These species are Anteophthalmosuchus escuchae, Hulkepholis plotos and an undetermined goniopholidid, AR-1-3422. In the present paper, we describe the postcranial and cranial bones of the goniopholidid from Mina Corta Barrabasa and compare it with the species from Mina Santa María. For the first time, we include the taxa from the Escucha Formation in a phylogenetic analysis to establish their relationships within Goniopholididae, adding to what is known of the goniopholidid fossil assemblages from this time interval. The results indicate that the specimen from Mina Corta Barrabasa is closely related to Anteophthalmosuchus escuchae and may be the same species. Together with Hulkepholis plotos and other taxa from England and Belgium, these taxa form an endemic European clade. The Escucha Fm. goniopholidids are the youngest Eurasian members of the group and may be the youngest globally, depending on how North American taxa are eventually resolved.

“…Most recent phylogenetic analyses (Buscalioni et al, 2011, Puértolas-Pascual et al, 2014 place Allodaposuchus as the sister clade of Hylaeochampsidae.…”

Section: Crocodyliformsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first is Hylaeochampsidae, a monophyletic group represented by small forms as Hylaeochampsa, from the Barremian of the Isle of Wight (Clark and Norell, 1992); Pietraroiasuchus, from the Albian of Italy (Buscalioni et al, 2011); Iharkutosuchus, from the Santonian of Hungary (Ősi et al, 2007); and Acynodon from the Campanian-Maastrichtian of Spain, France and Italy (Buscalioni et al, , 1999Martin, 2007;Delfino et al, 2008). Specimens from Romania, France and Spain compose a second non-crocodylian eusuchian group (Buscalioni et al, 2001;Puértolas-Pascual et al, 2014) generally assigned to Allodaposuchus.…”

Section: Crocodyliformsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The biota of the Upper Cretaceous site of “Lo Hueco” (Cuenca, Spain)

Ortega¹,

Bardet

Barroso-Barcenilla

et al. 2015

The Late Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) fossil site of Lo Hueco was recently discovered close to the village of Fuentes (Cuenca, Spain) during the cutting of a little hill for installation of the railway of the Madrid-Levante high-speed train. To date, it has yielded a rich collection of well-preserved Cretaceous macrofossils, including plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates. The recovered fossil assemblage is mainly composed of plants, molluscs (bivalves and gastropods), actinopterygians and teleosteans fishes, amphibians, panpleurodiran (bothremydids) and pancryptodiran turtles, squamate lizards, eusuchian crocodyliforms, rhabdodontid ornithopods, theropods (mainly dromaeosaurids), and titanosaur sauropods. This assemblage was deposited in a near-coast continental muddy floodplain crossed by distributary sandy channels, exposed intermittently to brackish or marine and freshwater flooding as well as to partial or total desiccation events.